He Museum of Fine Arts of Sevilledependent on the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, has programmed on the occasion of the 425th anniversary of the birth of Diego Velázquez (1599-1669) a programming special around his figure, in which experts from the National Prado Museum and the Sevillian art gallery will participate, who will analyze the painter’s technique as well as his trail in Goya’s work and in 19th century painting.
The first of the conferencesunder the title Velázquez’s technique, will take place on June 6, at 7:30 p.m., by Jaime García-Maiquez, researcher in the technical documentation office of the Prado Museum. And on Thursday, June 13, at the same time, the conference Velázquez and his wake in the work of Goya and in 19th-century painting will be held, by Pedro Martínez Plaza, curator of 19th-century painting at the Museum. of the Prado.
Thematic visits
These conferences, which aim to delve into the painter’s work, will be accompanied by thematic visits aimed at all audiences on Saturday, June 8, in the morning (10:15, 11:15, 12:15 p.m.) and afternoon (5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), prior reservation -media hour before the showing at the museum’s information desk, with a maximum of two tickets per person. This activity, directed by Antonio Montaño, a specialized guide at the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, will be focused on understanding Velázquez’s training and artistic activity in Seville. In addition, the historical-artistic context that caused the genesis and development of Naturalism, of which Velázquez was one of the main protagonists, will be analyzed.
On the occasion of this anniversary, a commemorative cartouche in Room IVin which the works are exhibited Apostle Head (1619-1620) and the Portrait of Cristóbal Suárez de Ribera (1620), both by the Sevillian master. This room also houses the work of other authors contemporary with the Sevillian painter’s youth. Faced with his careful drawing technique and active naturalism, the room allows us to contemplate the diverse path that Juan de Roelas began in the early years of the century, which was joined by followers such as Uceda and Herrara the Elder himself.
in the oil Apostle Head, deposit of the National Prado Museum, Velázquez models the old man’s face, taken from life, using a soft light that reveals an extraordinary use of drawing, marking the wrinkles on the forehead with long brush strokes. Although the authorship of this painting was initially questioned, its naturalism and technical resources have consolidated the current attribution to the master in recent decades.
At work Portrait of Don Cristóbal Suárez de Riberafrom the Brotherhood of San Hermenegildo, the painting contains the features that predominate in Velázquez’s portraits, such as chromatic economy, by presenting the character on a neutral background and focusing the interest on the face and hands, which manifests the Pacheco’s influence on the care of the drawing, a consequence of a precise and contained brushstroke.
The event of the birth of the painter Diego Velázquez is commemorated on June 6th, date on which he was baptized in the parish of San Pedro in Seville. This is the first documented fact of a life that this city served as a setting until his departure to Madrid, called by the King in 1623, where he triumphed as an artist and courtier. His main performance was as a painter, although his personality led him to achieve great influence that allowed him to travel to Italy to acquire works for the collections of Philip IV.
